Hope Arises is running a ribbon-rolling workshop Friday, to educate on Indigenous children who were lost.
The organization, which gained not-for-profit status in November, will be at the Huntsville Public Library from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. putting together orange ribbons.
Joyce Crone, President of Hope Arises, says the ribbons represent children who died at residential schools, and participants will be asked to treat each ribbon as if it was an actual child.
“I think it was essential to have them recognize and handle with care each ribbon, write the name of an actual child on that ribbon,” says Crone. “Then to follow up and roll it, put it very gently in a large bin.”
According to Crone, the ribbons will be distributed throughout the year at events for National Indigenous Peoples’ Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as well as given to businesses and residents to display on their own.
“That each child was significant,” says Crone, of what she hopes people will learn from the workshop. “Each child that perished at a residential school in Canada mattered, and they belonged to a family. They had heritage, they had ancestors, they had a possible future, and that was taken away from them.”
You can sign up for the workshop at the Huntsville Public Library’s website.
“It’s about honouring each child, because they did not have a proper burial. They were discarded,” Crone says.